Food & Drink

Top Spots For Apple Picking Near St. Louis

Picking apples is a great activity for just about everyone, young and old. Pack up the family for an afternoon of fun on the farm. The best part is finding great apple pie, cobbler,or apple cider recipes to use up all of those apples you’ve picked once it’s all said and done. St. Louis has some of the best places for picking apples where you can quickly and easily fill a bushel basket. Find one that’s close to you, or enjoy a bit of a road trip with the family at these top apple picking places in the area.

Come and get your fill of Honeycrisp, Fuji, Jonathan or Enterprise varieties of apples. Pick your own, and then choose a tree for $10 to take home and plant your own to enjoy harvesting your own sweet crunchy fruits. Apple picking begins in September when the crop is ripe. Enjoy the farm all day long, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., every day of the week.

Apples begin to ripen at this orchard during the fall month of September. Come enjoy picking alone or bring a group and stay for a picnic. This well-known farm and orchard has three locations to choose from when you’re ready for some apple-picking fun. The one located in Millstadt is just across the river and a short drive from South St. Louis.

This farm is rebuilding after a destructive fire, but is still open for business and has a crop of ready-to-pick apples waiting to be enjoyed. The owners will be the first to tell you that the apples here are probably not as perfectly beautiful in appearance as those you find at a supermarket, but they are usually much more delicious. Better yet, picking apples and spending a day on the farm is the perfect family outing. Expect to find varieties like Empire, Jonagold, Senshu, Red Delicious and Golden Delicious ripening throughout the month of September.Related:St. Louis Late Summer Produce Guide

The only thing better than eating local and healthy apples is picking your own Jonathon, Ida Red or Empire apples. Enjoy a farm-fresh atmosphere that is suitable and friendly for the entire family. Just a short drive across the Mississippi River is an orchard filled with apple trees ready and ripened to pick. Come toward the end of September in the 2014 season to help celebrate 32 years of apple festivals at this Illinois orchard.

Pack a picnic lunch and plan on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon filled with apple picking fun. Stop in after a bicycle ride or a jog, because these orchards are just a short jaunt from the Katy Trail. The Mutsu and Missouri Red are among the most popular of the dozens of apple varieties that ripen starting in August through mid-October. Enjoy a day of picking apples on your own, but don’t leave until you’ve checked out the other fresh produce available for purchase which has already been picked.Related: Top Spots For A Picnic In St. Louis

Tere Scott is a freelance writer and author of e-books and two educational blogs. She loves to research information to share. She currently resides in St. Louis. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.